


Solelara

by GaHoolianGirl



Series: The Technical Specifications of Love [6]
Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Camping, Data Has Android Emotions, Established Relationship, Fluff, Friendship/Love, M/M, Mainly bc I make a reference to a specific episode, Other, Reminiscing, S'mores, This is also set near the end of season 6, briefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:35:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27058066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaHoolianGirl/pseuds/GaHoolianGirl
Summary: Nights on Solelara were almost always pleasantly warm, and that combined with the glow of the dark lavender bark and teal leaves of the planet’s bioluminescent trees made their small camp fire more of a prop to set the ambience than a necessity, but Geordi didn’t mind so much- it wasn’t about the heat or the light (not that he’d even need the illumination with his VISOR in any circumstance), it was about sitting by the fire with those you cared about, at least to him.And right now there was nowhere he’d rather be than sitting on a long dead log that had lost it’s glow next to a useless fire, pressed up against Data’s side, who was doing his best to maintain the meager flames. The planet’s wood was not particularly flammable, so they had to use their own fuel, and without the aid of replicators they had to ration it out....well, they didn’t have to, of course, but Geordi had mentioned camp fires as a necessary part of the experience, and therefore Data was determined to have it no matter the circumstances.Daforge goes camping.
Relationships: Data/Geordi La Forge
Series: The Technical Specifications of Love [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1970848
Comments: 10
Kudos: 42





	Solelara

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a discussion I had with some friends, which this actually has nothing to do with besides the subject being "camping" lol
> 
> Also the title is the name of the planet they're on, and while I want to CLAIM I'm clever, I got it from a random name generator

Nights on Solelara were almost always pleasantly warm, and that combined with the glow of the dark lavender bark and teal leaves of the planet’s bioluminescent trees made their small camp fire more of a prop to set the ambience than a necessity, but Geordi didn’t mind so much- it wasn’t about the heat or the light (not that he’d even need the illumination with his VISOR in any circumstance), it was about sitting by the fire with those you cared about, at least to him.

And right now there was nowhere he’d rather be than sitting on a long dead log that had lost it’s glow next to a useless fire, pressed up against Data’s side, who was doing his best to maintain the meager flames. The planet’s wood was not particularly flammable, so they had to use their own fuel, and without the aid of replicators they had to ration it out.

...well, they didn’t have to, of course, but Geordi had mentioned camp fires as a necessary part of the experience, and therefore Data was determined to have it no matter the circumstances.

It was cute seeing Data do his best to make everything as traditional as possible in a world entirely alien to where most of these customs were devised, so Geordi felt no motivation to say anything about it. Instead, he begrudgingly separated himself from his partner, reaching into their bag of supplies for the frankly absurdly large bag of marshmallows he had packed, along with the equally large amount of graham crackers and milk chocolate squares. He wasn’t really a sweets guy, and Data had given him a bit of a lecture about the dangers of too much processed sugar consumption, but there were some things he considered important about the experience as well.

S’mores were of the utmost importance, no matter what galaxy you were in.

“Weren’t you asking me to show you how to make s’mores? I think now is as good a time as any.”

Data looked at him with that slightly puzzled expression he sometimes wore, but nonetheless nodded, “I did indeed make such a request, and am interested in the process. Is it not rather early to do so, however? We have only been on planet for five hours and ten minutes.”

“A day here is only about twelve hours, so it’s nearly half over already,” Geordi said with a broad smile, now searching their kindling pile for two appropriate sticks, “So I think we ought to hurry up!”

“Ah, yes, you chose Solelara due to its shorter rotation cycle in order to ‘make it feel like two weeks instead of just one’,” Data recalled as he rose to provide assistance, quickly making a visual scan of the pile before pulling out two relatively half meter long sticks, still retaining their bioluminescence, “My internal chronometer functions as it always does, so a week will always be a week to me, so long as I am programmed as I am.”

Geordi took one from his hands, forgoing it’s inspection by way of instinctual trust in Data’s judgement, and skewered it, briefly marveling at being able to see it’s bright purple glow through the marshmallow. He moved back closer to the fire, settling once more at his spot on the log; Data followed suit, “It’s not about the actual passage of time, really. The way the internal clock works for a human means it can be easily influenced by their environment. For example, when people travel between time zones, they often have trouble sleeping, because they naturally get tired when it’s bright and sunny out. Our brains tell time by looking at the world around us- so even though the numbers don’t change, my mind interprets time here moving much faster than normal.”

Data thoughtfully hummed at that answer, poking his stick into his own marshmallow “Fascinating,” it was ambiguous whether or not that as directed at Geordi’s words or the fluffy treat until he continued his sentence, “Commander Riker once suggested I turn off my internal chronometer when I expressed a similar confusion to him. I have not yet conducted that experiment, but perhaps now would be the appropriate time?”

“I’d say go for it!” Geordi gave him an encouraging clap on the shoulder, “Let’s make these s’mores, and then I’ll help you shut it off before we go to bed.”

“That is an acceptable course of action,” he paused for a fraction of a second, “I understand the basic mechanics of the process, as well as theoretically how long it should take for the marshmallow to heat up to a temperature hot enough to melt the chocolate in a controlled manner, but previous experience has led me to believe you will say there is ‘more’ to it than that.”

Geordi laughed, unable to restrain himself from placing a kiss on Data’s cheek, “You’re absolutely correct. There isn’t really an ‘optimal’ or ‘right’ way to do it. It’s pretty dependent on your personal preference. Some people like them burnt to hell and back, while other people like them just _barely_ warmed up. Me, I like ‘em nice and golden brown, crispy on the outside with a sweet, gooey middle.”

“I do not have any preference in such regards.”

“You like foods with really distinct textures, right? Your artificial tastebuds can register those more easily. So maybe try burning it first?”

“I will follow your suggestion.”

With that, he stuck it directly into the heart of the fire, and Geordi had to hold back his bark of laughter- thank goodness the stick wasn’t all that flammable. After only about thirty seconds, he pulled it back out, marveling at it’s charred, blackened state, rotating it in just about every direction to inspect each angle, much to the amusement of his partner, who was taking his sweet time with his own, “That looks more like a lump of charcoal than a marshmallow now! My dad liked them that way.”

“You have not informed me previously that your family ever went camping.”

“Well, we didn’t go _camping_ camping- we’d mostly boot up the stock holodeck program when we all happened to be in the same place, so it was only for a few hours at most. That’s probably why I have such an idealized view of it, I’ve only ever done it in that controlled environment.”

He pulled his marshmallow out to inspect it, but turned to look at Data in concern when he realized he was taking far longer than normal to reply. The android was sitting almost stock still, before he quickly reanimated, grabbing Geordi’s free hand with his own, “This is the first time you have been camping outside of a simulation.”

“Yeah?”

“Then this is a human practice we will be learning about _together._ ”

Geordi couldn’t believe there was ever a point in time at which he almost believed Data’s past claims of having no emotion, because if you knew how to listen, the excitement in that statement was nearly enough to bowl a man over. 

“That’s right. You and me.”

“You are my preferred partner in regards to experiencing things unfamiliar to myself.”

Now wasn’t the compliment of the century; a being who was _designed_ to learn and grow, to adapt and change from his experiences, _decided_ that he wanted Geordi by his side while he did so. Was there a higher honor to be had than being the person an android wanted to have his first s’more with?

“...thanks, Data. You’re my preferred _everything,_ really.”

“That is most gratifying to hear, Geordi. However, this romantic conversation must be cut short as I estimate there is only approximately thirty seconds until the marshmallow on the end of my stick will succumb to gravity and land on the floor, so it would be prudent to commence with the construction of the ‘s'mores’.”

As he nearly always was, Data was correct, his charred ‘mallow seemed like it was determined to be on the ground sooner rather than later.

“We better get on it, then. Alright, first things first, we get the graham cracker, and split it in two...”

As Geordi watched Data copy his every move with interest, creating the most technically perfect s'more that was inhumanly possible, he knew that admist the glowing forest, even if he didn't have his VISOR, Data would shine the brightest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not maybe my strongest ending ever haha, but sometimes you just gotta cap it off the best you can. I didn't want to get caught up in it and never finish, therefore depriving you lovely folks of some camping tenderness haha.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought!


End file.
